Patch 5.4 - Legendary Cloak Effects
Along with the new procs on the legendary cloak come some nice new spell effects. Keep in mind the size and positioning of the effects in the preview are aren't from an official preview, so don't expect the final effect to appear in the same place or be the same size as our preview.

PvEOnly ToT raids are not x-realm in guild modes - not sure why it is still snowflake delayed after another patch.
We want guilds and realms to still have meaning. (Source)

in the world of bring the player not the class shouldn't Drums be equivalent to lust and not weaker?
If the goal was that you had all buffs regardless of comp then we'd just give them all passively. (Source)
The goal was to give players flexibility to e.g. bring a high DPS player over a low DPS player with a mandatory buff. (Source)
Comp is much more flexible now, but not infinitely so. (Source)
We think you can fit a mage, shaman or hunter in your 10 or live with weaker lust. (Source)Isn't this raid buff thing mostly there to shit on 10m raids? 25s get them all by accident.
Buffs are there to make you feel stronger in a group and to encourage some level of raid diversity. (Source)
We know there are 10s that would love to bring e.g. 7 druids, but even they are still viable, just at a disadvantage. (Source)

Should I take this as "Bring the Player Not the Class" is now less of a goal for Blizzard than it was during wrath?
I would phrase it as we largely fixed the Sunwell problem. (Source)
We were coming off of Sunwell where raid comps were absurdly rigid. (Source)
Most guilds not competing for world first have huge latitude in their group comp. (Source)

"Finders" have soiled social exps. and has been repeatedly proven. I really like that hs requires forming groups.
I think the key is there have to be alternatives. Social / challenging and finder / easier seems like a good formula. (Source)

How about this for once: "Tough." Nerfing content is not serving the game or the company. Refute me, please.
This sounds like the myth that hard content forces players to rise to the challenge and not quit. (Source)If it's a myth, then why is it bad for HScens to be nerfed? Maybe having goals is important for progression?
The difference is there are alternatives to heroic scenarios. The problem with e.g. Cat dungeons was there were not. (Source)

Divide in this aspect. Do you think there are players who would like long lasting interractions but miss opportunities in game
Overall we think players tend to stick with the game longer if they have a social network. But that is not something we can force. (Source)
Forcing players to find groups by making content hard and providing no matchmaking isn't a good recipe for success. (Source)When you provide the ability to play alone, many players will, and then, where's the necessary social network?
From its launch, WoW was vastly more solo friendly than the typical MMO. This isn't a new thing. (Source)
But if we can lure players into social experiences, hopefully they will have more fun. (Source)
But removing solo isn't the answer. This is a case that IS bait and switch. You need the (solo) bait. (Source)

Again, what's the purpose of a kick ability if we're not supposed to use it?
We can't distinguish between a kick because someone is abusive or AFK (legit) and someone who hasn't seen the fights before. (Source)
We see tanks who say "this is my first time" get kicked. Surely you can agree that's not a good use of the kick feature. (Source)

Raid Finder and Flex RaidingThey weren't Raiders before, this confirms NM raiding is dead. 40% loss of NM teams in 1 TIER, source SG vs Jin kills
We didn't provide instant catch up mechanics this time, so many guilds still lack the ilevel to do ToT successfully. (Source)
Instant catch up has very serious pros and cons, neither easily dismissed. (Source)

Interesting that you acknowledge this yet deny that the ruthless tuning of encounters has damaged the NM scene.
It's what I said a few days ago about 10s now being tuned like 25s. Flex should help with players looking for that ICC 10 feel. (Source)
(And it's not fair to the 25s if 10s are easier logistically and easier in difficulty so long as they provide the same loot.) (Source)

Are you not worried that raiding is getting complicated? Raid loot especially. LFR,Flex,Norm,NormTF,Heroic, Heroic TF etc :|
We have a huge diversity of players so having many options makes sense as long as folks can figure out which content is for them. (Source)

Do you honestly think LFR/LFG is a good thing? Does it have a chance at going away at all?
Yes and no, respectively. We do hope with flex we can tempt some players into what we think will be more fun for them. (Source)

Why not make LFR only for raids older than current content. Fixes all problems. Don't run out of content, older raids used.
Players get excited seeing e.g. the awesome Throne of Thunder trailer, only to hear that the new raid isn't for them. (Source)
It's like when a new movie sequel comes out, you really ought to see the first one, but it would be a bad idea to mandate that. (Source)well then tell them to get a group. it's an MMORPG not a single player game.
I have said this several times lately, but another expansion of spamming LFG for a dungeon pug and I myself might have quit. (Source)
And I have almost always been in a huge guild with lots of friends. It does not guarantee you a group whenever you want it. (Source)

"Fun to do"? I'm sorry but everyone i know playing the game hates LFR, only doing it for a few minor upgrades...
We know there are plenty of players who enjoy LFR. Several of them tweet that to me. Let them have their fun. (Source)
If it's a few minor upgrades, then they aren't really the LFR audience. (Source)Speaking of, why no thunderforged in LFR?
Tforged is primarily to provide raiding with a long tail. LFR isn't really trying to deliver on that same experience. (Source)I love LFR. LFR QQ only comes from elitiests who think that there are a lot more of them than there actually is!
I would not have phrased it so harshly, but I do agree many raiders don't understand how hardcore their perceptions really are. (Source)

Please tell me now if you are planning to remove or severely gut LFR in 6.0 so I can go ahead and walk away for good.
We haven't talked about future expansion plans much yet, but I don't imagine LFR will change fundamentally. (Source)
We'd like to entice more players into Flex (B/C we think they will have more fun) but want to do that with carrots, not sticks. (Source)

For LFR/coins, big loot table feels like a penalty. Harder to get item you want. What if 7.5% per item, instead of flat 15%?
Big loot tables are a challenge. But, we like lots of options instead of one slot per customer. Bigger raids helps some. (Source)

Patch 5.4 PvE5.4 Ahead of the Curve FoS split into 10 and 25 (or datamining shenanigans?); are we looking at separate server 1st achieves?
Overall we just want to make it easier for players to be able to identify in which raid someone earned an achievement. (Source)

Please stop wasting resources on side games and distractions. PvP brawler's pet battles. How many 5 mans with those hours?
None actually from those two examples. Different teams. (Source)Honestly dailies are the quickest way to get lesser charms, I know there are other ways, but rng on those, dailies are boring
I'm not sure that's true. Last week I got my charms by making a group and farming Barrens bosses. (Source)GC seems to be missing the point, what is the difference between farming barrens and dailies? Same thing.
If you never want to leave instances, just understand you're going to have a lot less content than other players. (Source)Just explain why, to be most efficient in instances, I _have_ to do unrelated content like dailies or farming the Barrens?
We want to reward players for participating in a wide variety of content rather than risking burn out by tunneling on one thing. (Source)
By making the additional content a bonus we give players the option to opt out if they only want to do the bare minimum. (Source)

Looks like we're fighting UNDER Org in the "never before seen cavern of dark hallways"... instead of in the streets, sigh
In the streets too, but if we had left it at that, we would have heard "Rehashed raid zone." (Source)

will SoO have a linear or a non linear progression path ?
Less linear than ToT. (Source)
To be clear, it's not super non-linear. We want to make future raids more like BWD or UIduar in terms of linearity. (Source)

PvPNobody is taking real tanks anymore in pvp post 5.3. I want to tank in pvp but im not allowed to. Could we get a nerf 2 debuff
The problem is that when tanks are having fun in PvP, I'm not sure anyone else is. (Source)

Ever given thought to the GW2 style of PVP gearing? Would remove all the bickering over pve vs pvp gear and focus on skill
It is one of those heated arguments where both sides seem eager to dismiss the other view point as wrong. (Source)
Gear should matter since I worked hard and want goals vs only skill should matter. (Source)
As a counterpoint, look at how many PvP players didn't like the 5.3 change that lessened the impact of their hard-earned gear. (Source)

removing every fun factor out of hunters for pve because you can't balance pvp. hypocritical when you revert warlocks nerf
That sounds like we're not allowed to make any class changes because it would be hypocritical. (Source)

how do you want pvpers to make money? I see my 150g repair bill after a day of bgs and can't afford it.
How do PvE'rs make money? Unless their guild is very generous, it's not from running instances.... (Source)

The more offensive cds you add to the game, the less skill required the game becomes. It just promotes Swifty macros
It depends if they can all be lined up or not. We're really souring on the gameplay of lining everything up all the time. (Source)Lining up CDs represents strategic play. Mutually exclusive or randomised CDs converts it to FCFS tactics =(
The synergistic effects of all those CDs at once overrides using them intelligently over time. That removes strategy IM(O)O. (Source)

Computers - Setup of the Month (by chaud)
Each month or every 2 months, depending on the hardware evolutions, the lovely chaud will work on a couple of hardware setups for those of you who are thinking of upgrading their computer!

This month
The current SSD prices are stable or slightly increasing, with most SSDs under $1 per gigabyte when on sale. RAM prices are continuing to go up, so if you were thinking about adding RAM anytime soon, now is the time.

The new Haswell CPUs from Intel are here and they run a little bit on the warmer side. Depending on how much you want to overclock, you may need to spend a bit more for a better CPU cooler like the NH-D14 or H90.

Unless you are doing a lot of video rendering or something that is similarly multithreaded, you do not need the 4770K and should spend that money elsewhere.

One question on the Narwhal build, rather one bit of input... I would put GTX 760 in there instead of a 660ti. Think about it, a GTX 760 is a hair more powerful than a GTX 670 and it's only $250, so yeah no point in getting a 660ti IMHO. Just thought I would point that out ;D oh and Loving the legendary cloaks!! can't wait to snag me my healing cloak!

Also with Ealyssa, Definitely hope that they can proc with the cloak being hidden. Some of us just don't want our cloaks showing all the time

Wonder why has the caster cloak Xing-Ho, Breath of Yu'lon WAY better visual effect than any of the others. It's Tyrael-ish look is incredibly cool compared to the rest, its moving, floating, something like "living" that the others don't do at all.
I know these effects may not be finalized and crossing my fingers for some polishing to the rest of the cloaks.

Regarding the computer setups - I don't usually come to the front-page due to spending all my time in computer forums, but I just came here to say this - please DO NOT make any snap decisions with these computer setups. They seem to be rather hastily put-together (typos/wrong links) and the tiny number of options really don't do justice to what's available out there. Every build should be fine-tuned to the person's needs.
For a proper setup recommendation please come straight to Computer Build Forums. Check out Marest's Sample Builds for a vastly bigger range in budgets and parts (the latest stuff!). Please make a thread if you have any further questions using the thread format and we'll be glad to help

This sounds like the myth that hard content forces players to rise to the challenge and not quit.

Bwhahahahaha. I love wow, i still play it and will atleast play it until Wildstar comes out. But its comments like this that make us players who want a challenge to fringe and look down on Blizzard groveling to the casual crowd. Dont get me wrong, there is nothing bad about being casual we all end up there some day but where i am right now its not for me.

Someone can go ahead and shoot me down on this, but is it possible that Druids, in form, can see these procs? We already got screwed out of Challenge Mode armor effects, but seeing that blue flare pop up from a cat's back or even from the front (which, seriously, Xuen is a goddamn tiger, why would cats not get the tiger's effect visually?), the Yak head effect on a bear, the green wings on a moonkin (though they can probably cheat the system with that glyph of sparkly night elf stuff), though the orange wings on a tree would look... interesting.

Bwhahahahaha. I love wow, i still play it and will atleast play it until Wildstar comes out. But its comments like this that make us players who want a challenge to fringe and look down on Blizzard groveling to the casual crowd. Dont get me wrong, there is nothing bad about being casual we all end up there some day but where i am right now its not for me.

It doesnt help that GC admitted that the problem with Cata heroics was no alternatives was offered and that there could be more challenging five mans if there was normal modes to get players into LFR. Max level normal mode dungeons was removed along with other changes that placed a larger focus on heroic dungeons than it had previously. Challenging content and queue does work as long as players who dont want challenge dont feel forced to do it and ruin it for those who do like it.

Its one of those situations where the minority would grief and ruin the enjoyment of the majority and therefore the experience gets gutted so that the minority is no longer a burden on the majority while in the end the majority still lose out and the quarterly report of casuals quitting due to lack of engaging content reflects that.

GC also counters his own argument on the players wont step up when talking about Flex mode and trying to make it more enticing to players to step up to the harder content from LFR which the developers believe will be more fun and keep them playing.

got to love all those kiddies crying about LFR and saying they will quit cuz of it... hilarious, like those kids in school... "QQ if he gets to plays with that toy then i dont want to play with it anymore, how dare they QQ" ..
Its also like those sad mofo's complaining about certain TV programs and enrage about it instead of just chaning the channel or ignoring it.... but hey, keep QQ'ing and entertain me =)

Seriously, the kids complaining about LFR should just be permabanned for bad attitude...

As a raider of normal difficulty and hopefully HC in the future I tell you this...Don't.Touch.My.LFR.. Seriously, how dumb are these people? They don't like a feature but instead of just ignoring it, they want to see it removed regardless of whom it would affect...

I have a great time gearing my alts and using them for something other than 5-man dungeons in LFR. Also it gives extra shots at legendary quest items each week...so yeah, don't remove LFR because some kids can't mind their own business without worrying about what everyone else gets to play with.

If having hard content with no alternatives caused players to rise to the challenge then higher percentages of the player base would have cleared something like original Nax.

The arguments against LFR just don't seem to be based in reality. If everything they said were true then WoW would have been very different before LFR.

You can't have challenging content AND have everyone clear it. That's not how reality works.

It's rather a bad sign that not more people do LFR since LFR can be done by anyone. Someone who never played a videogame before can do it. So if it is really that much fun then at least 50% of all subscribers should be doing it since nothing else is stopping players from using LFR.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by Rorcanna

Seriously, the kids complaining about LFR should just be permabanned for bad attitude...

As a raider of normal difficulty and hopefully HC in the future I tell you this...Don't.Touch.My.LFR.. Seriously, how dumb are these people? They don't like a feature but instead of just ignoring it, they want to see it removed regardless of whom it would affect...

I have a great time gearing my alts and using them for something other than 5-man dungeons in LFR. Also it gives extra shots at legendary quest items each week...so yeah, don't remove LFR because some kids can't mind their own business without worrying about what everyone else gets to play with.

Too bad some people, like you, can't accept that LFR isn't all good. I guess as long as it works out for you then it's all good.

Are you now going to act like all the arguments made over the years are just bullshit?

p.s. You can't just ignore LFR. Figure it out yourself because apparently when someone else says why you don't read it or simply ignore it.

The cloaks are still boring pieces of flat texture if the effects are just either fade-in-and-out bullshit or proc-effects. If they want to make the legendary at least slightly worthwhile, the effect will have to be there as long as the cloak is equipped/shown.

Sadly, Blizzard hasn't given the "perm effect while equipped" deal a chance since warlock T4, where the warlock helm spawned a black hole behind the user. If it's a proc or fade in/fade out bullshit effect, then it doesn't matter because the cloak itself is just a low-quality flat texture piece, and there are way cooler proc effects anyway.

Oh, confirmed in a tweet that it's just a proc. Thanks Blizzard. We were all just waiting to get another LQ flat texture cloak with some silly effect you will barely notice when playing. Screw at least adding it as a permanent effect to make it seem.. legendary? That's way too logical.